Snapshots
by LazyShadowCat
Summary: Dumping ground for my Sasuhina oneshots of varying lengths and moods.
1. Sketch

Uploading some stories I wrote a while ago for the Sasuhina Tumblr tag.

General Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I honestly wouldn't want to at this point. It's more disappointing than my productivity. Anyway, this is going to be the only disclaimer because I have no interest in repeating the same thing over and over again.

* * *

"Come on Emo, we haven't go all day," Sai snapped, sounding almost impatient. His typical, fake smile had disappeared and in its place sat a stony frown. "You need to have a partner. The topic is romance."

"No," Sasuke replied, crossing his arms stubbornly. He stood in the middle of the art room, an incredibly messy but colorful room that always smelled of acrylics and glue. Encircled around him were a variety of wooden easels and art students, most of whom were as antsy and anxious as Sai. These live model romance sketches were due the next day and if they weren't done, they'd all be subject to the art teacher's wrath.

Sai had thought it would be entertaining to draw the grouchy Uchiha in exaggerated romance poses. Sasuke had owed him a favor, and since his partner was going to be Sakura, who'd gotten over her obsession with him a long time ago, he'd agreed to do it. But then Sakura had to do something for the Principal Tsunade and canceled. Now Sai was stuck with fan girls fighting over the "privilege" of being with their crush, an unresponsive Uchiha, and the very real possibility of failing an art assignment.

Needing a fast solution, Sai glanced around the room, and spotted his (maybe) savior.

"Hinata-san," he called, forgetting to use a nickname in his haste. The soft-spoken Hyuga female, who'd been quietly and intently working on her still life in the corner, started at the sound at her name. But before she could respond, Sai had grabbed her wrist and was dragging her from her corner to the center of the circle of easels, right beside Sasuke. "You're Sasuke's partner."

Sasuke reacted with uncharacteristic widening of eyes and a slight flush when his confused classmate was pushed into his private space. The expression, which looked so out of place on a face typically used for smirking, scowling and frowning, was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared, so fast that Sai wondered if it had even been there at all.

"Well...sure. I suppose I can tolerate her," the Uchiha muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning his head slightly away.

"B-But Sai-san-" Hinata protested, gesturing futilely at her abandoned still-life sketch.

"Please Hinata-san," one of the art students pleaded desperately, clapping her hands together and bowing her head. "Sensei is going to kill us if we don't have these done."

Apparently too kind-hearted to simply abandon her classmates in their time of need, Hinata hesitantly relented. All the art students breathed a collective sigh of relief and picked up their pencils. Sai chased out the disappointed fan girls and took his place in front of his easel, glad that everything had somehow worked itself it. He also felt a spark of curiosity beginning to grow.

Through the rest of the drawing session, Sai watched in amusement as Sasuke and Hinata awkwardly went through each of the poses pitched at them. Sasuke fumbled around like a confused and disorientated cat, keeping his eyes on the ground and never looking his modeling partner in the eye. Hinata, of course, was boiled-lobster red the entire time and came very close to fainting whenever they did some of the "closer" poses. She practically ran out of the art room when all the artists had finished their drawings.

"Hey Emo," Sai called out, catching Sasuke before he too could escape. Sai's false smile had returned, this time laced with diabolical glee. The resulting combination must have been quite disturbing, if Sasuke's unnerved expression was anything to go by.

"What."

Sai flipped through his sketchbook until he found the picture he'd been looking for. Sasuke took the picture, opening his mouth to give a scathing remark. But then he looked down at the picture and froze, color rushing to his cheeks.

It showed one of the simpler poses: a stoic Uchiha clumsily holding the hand of a flustered Hyuga, with both of them looking away in embarrassment. Sai had altered the expressions a bit. In his sketch, the two of them were looking at each other, a small, shy grin on both of their faces. (Though since the Uchiha was physically incapable of smiling, he'd had to take some pretty big artistic liberties). The effect was...actually rather nice. It certainly elicited some amusing results from Sasuke.

"It's yours to keep." Sai had all the sketches he needed anyway. "Maybe one day it'll actually happen."

"Mind...Mind you're own business," Sasuke stammered, tucking the picture safely into his jacket pocket. Ducking his head, the Uchiha hastily left the art room, leaving behind a highly amused Sai. The pale artist's fake smile slowly turned into a full-blown evil grin as he contemplated just what he'd do with this new tidbit of information.


	2. Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

"You've _never_ built a snowman before?" Six-year old Sasuke asked, his voice squeaking from astonishment. Never in his whole (admittedly short) life had he ever heard such a ludicrous statement.

He and the young Hyuga Heiress were standing in Sasuke's backyard while their parents discussed oh-so-important grown-up matters in the house. Both were bundled from head to toe in the warmest clothing possible: Hinata in a beige fur coat with a fluffy pale-yellow snow cap and Sasuke in about five different layers topped with a hand knit red scarf his grandmother had given him last winter. Still, the wintry afternoon air bit at their noses and stung their cheeks. Around them lay the results of the first snowfall of the year, every inch of ground covered in soft, sparkling particles.

Little Hinata shook her head, awkwardly playing with the hem of her winter coat in reaction to Sasuke's incredulous gaze. Why was Sasuke making such a big deal out of it? Were snowmen that important? Father had said that playing in the snow was a huge waste of time, so it couldn't be that great, could it?

"But who defends you from the invisible storm ninja?"

"Wh-What?" Hinata's eyes widened in alarm and she jerked her head up to stare worriedly at Sasuke. "Invisible storm ninja?"

"Mm-hm. Itachi-nii says that every time it snows we have to go out and build snowmen to fight the invisible storm ninja or else they'll come and bury the house under a hundred feet of snow. How come they haven't done that to your house?"

The small Hyuga Heiress was trembling now, fear and guilt washing over her like waves. What had she done? How could she have left her family at the mercy of such a terrifying enemy while she stayed inside and studied? Desperately, she searched her memory for any snow-people who might have saved her home from destruction in all her years of negligent. "Some Branch Hyuga built some," she cried, nearly falling down with relief. "I remember. They were in the Branch Complex and they had scarves and sticks and carrots. I'll build some too." Her brow furrowed in troubled realization. "But...I-I don't know how to make a snowman. I...I c-can't stop the storm n-ninja."

Hinata was so overcome by the panic this revelation brought her that tears began to form at the corners of her eyes and she started to sniffle. Sasuke, being a small boy with no no experience in dealing with crying girls, had no idea how to make her feel better. He knew he had to though. Mother had always told him to be polite and respectful toward girls, so he could only imagine how she'd react if she saw that he'd made a Hinata cry. "Ahh. No, wait stop," the little Uchiha said, waving his hands frantically. Tears were rolling down Hinata's chubby cheeks much to Sasuke's horror. "It's fine, okay? Um, I can show you how to make a snowman!"

Hinata sniffled and wiped her face with the sleep of her jacket and gave Sasuke a look of wonderment. "You will?" she asked tentatively, a tiny, hopeful smile growing on her round face.

"Yeah. So, uh, don't cry anymore," the Uchiha said, extremely glad that the disaster had passed without incident. "You can help me make the army. Itachi-nii's on his stupid mission anyway."

He grabbing Hinata's mitten-ed hand in his gloved one, pulling the girl towards the center of the yard. Dropping down into a squat, Sasuke began to group the snow into a compact snowball. "You start small, see? And then you roll it around until it gets this big." Sasuke showed the size by holding his arms about two feet apart. "And then you make another snowball that's smaller but not too small 'cause then the snowman looks weird. And then you make the last snowball that's the smallest 'cause it's going to be the head and you put it at the very top and then you're done."

As Sasuke explained the complex procedures that went into making a snowman, he demonstrated by making a miniature example. Hinata gazed at his creation with a mixture of curiosity and fascination. "You're really good at this, Sasuke-kun."

"...I guess I am," Sasuke replied slowly, his face reddening at the sudden compliment. Suddenly, he couldn't help but feel super happy and proud. He was protecting his whole family from the invisible storm ninja, after all. He bet this was even more important than that boring secret mission Itachi went on. "So can you build one now?"

"Yes!" And with that, the two six-year olds scampered off to build an army.

But it could never be that easy, could it? From the second snowball being too heavy to lift, to the fact that neither of them were tall enough to lift the head and place it in position, to the head rolling off the torso and falling on their heads after they'd _finally_ gotten it to the top...Sasuke never fully appreciated Itachi's help until this moment. But they kept at it, despite the obstacles, fueled by determination and imaginations.

Eventually, they ran out of energy and snow. Wet and tired, the two children went to sit on wooden porch, both to rest and to survey their works. "Is it okay?"

"Sure...?" Sasuke replied after a pause, slightly afraid that any other response would cause the girl to start tearing up again. To be honest, their snowmen army looked kind of pathetic. After the various troubles in regards to the height and weight (the head snowball falling on their heads being the final straw) they'd stuck to snowmen that were roughly their size. The result was a bunch of dwarf snowmen of varying degrees of quality scattered haphazardly around the yard. Hardly a formidable force.

Sasuke's response obviously did little to hide his true feelings as Hinata's eager expression crumpled into one of crestfallen sadness. "They're not good at all, are they?" she asked quietly as she dropped her eyes towards the group.

"No, no they're fine," Sasuke said hastily. "In fact, I bet they'll do better against the invisible storm ninja than the ones me and Itachi-nii make."

"Really?"

"Uh huh. The enemy'll be so confused because Itachi-nii makes the same snowmen every year but they've never met snowmen like these and then our army will take them by surprised and beat them before they can do anything."

At Sasuke's words, the young Hyuga Heiress's look of dejection slowly morphed into a warm smile and a pleased expression. "I'm glad"

The two sat in silence for a while before Hinata spoke again, more shyly this time. "Um...Sasuke-kun, m-maybe next time we can build snowmen at my house?"

Sasuke glanced at the girl beside him who was poking her fingers together nervously as she awaited his answer. Today had been fun, more than he'd expected it to be with Itachi gone and his parents busy with clan matters. And Hinata wasn't so bad to be around. "Alright," he said with a bright smile.


	3. I'm Sorry, Goodbye

"Sasuke, leave me behind," Hinata whispered into the raven-haired man's ear as he piggy-backed her across the rough terrain, narrowly dodging boulders and scrambling past scraggly bushes. Ice-cold rain poured down from a dull gray sky, stinging his face and impeding his vision. The weather made navigation much more difficult, but he didn't mind too much. He'd put up with the inconvenience if it meant those maggot-riddled flesh-eaters wouldn't be able to get to them. "Save yourself."

"Shut up," Sasuke snapped, only increasing his pace. A liquid, warm and sticky and definitely not rain, had already soaked through the back of his shirt and and was beginning to dribble down his back and arms. Behind him, the wounded girl slowly went limp. _Fuck._ "Hinata? Goddamn it Hinata stay awake."

"Hmm..." Even her voice sounded as if it were fading away.

None too soon, Sasuke burst onto the edge of the property where they and seven other survivors were staying at the moment. Just a few meters and he would arrive at the heavy iron gates that led directly to the farmhouse. Stationed at the gate was Shino Aburame, having been assigned watch duty at the moment. "Open up," he demanded, shouting to be heard over the pouring rain.

The little light that managed to shine through the rainclouds reflected off of Shino's shiny, black glasses as he quietly took everything in - the unconscious Hinata, Sasuke's desperate expression, the blood that was dripping down onto the grass around them. His glasses and hood made it impossible for Sasuke to gauge his thoughts, but thankfully Shino didn't waste time commenting on the situation. Instead, he slid the steel bolt free and creaked open the gates. Sasuke slipped through and raced for the farmhouse.

Miracle of miracles, Sakura was right in front of the wooden blue house, bringing out large plastic tubs to collect rainwater with. Her dark sweater and old, faded jeans were damp with rainwater, and her pink hair was tied back in a small ponytail. "Sasuke-kun," she exclaimed when she saw him, straightening up to greet him with a smile. Then her eyes landed on Hinata and immediately widened with worry and seriousness. "Come with me," she said, heading quickly toward the farmhouse.

The two of them bypassed the foyer and entered the dining room, where the only table large enough to serve as a makeshift operating table was located. At the moment, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Ino had laid out their collection of weapons on it, chatting and laughing as while they cleaned and did maintenance together.

"Get these out of the way," Sakura ordered, gesturing at the assortment of armaments. "Ino-chan, bring the medical box and some water."

"Wait what's-holy shit what the hell happened to Hinata-chan?" Naruto exclaimed, not making a move.

" _Move_ Naruto," Sasuke snarled, absolutely not in the mood to answer questions.

The gravity of the situation must have dawned on the dense blonde because he shut up and helped Shikamaru gather up the remaining knives and guns. Sasuke carefully laid Hinata down on the cleared table. Her pale face was ghostly white, standing in stark contrast with her wet, dark navy hair and the maroon blood stain on her clothes. Sasuke gazed at her, clutching at the top of a wooden chair with such force that he could hear the wood groaning.

Sakura, on the other hand, was all business. Carefully, she cut away the jacket to reveal the dark red wounds underneath. There were multiple jagged scratches across her abdomen and a chunk of flesh on her arm was missing. Sakura let out a hiss at the sight of her. "Doesn't look good," she murmured.

"Fix her," Sasuke snarled.

"I'll try my best," Sakura replied, not batting an eyelash at his outburst. She and Ino grabbed some clean rags and pressed them to the torn skin. Ino even raised Hinata's limp arm up into the air, still clasping the clean rag against the wound. They just stood like that for the next few minutes, talking softly amongst each other about the next possible course of action.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke finally demanded, nerves could no longer handle the inactivity. "Shouldn't you be cleaning and bandaging and getting rid of all the dirt those monsters got on her?" The chair that he was gripping groaned loudly under the force of his grip.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, eerily calm. She'd worked at the hospital as an emergency surgeon before That Day, the day the world ended, and seemed completely unaffected by the stress or pressure. "You should leave. Ino-chan and I have everything under control. We can't work if you're hovering around and asking questions."

"But-" Sasuke protested, unable to bring himself to abandon Hinata. He couldn't just let her lie there, about to slip away at any moment, without at least being there. He couldn't fail her again...

Seeing that Sasuke wasn't leaving, the pink-haired surgeon sighed. "Look Sasuke-kun, you can't be here." Handing the responsibility of putting pressure on the abdominal wounds to Ino for the moment, Sakura walked over to the Uchiha. "Come on," she said, her voice even and authoritative. Taking him by the arm, she led him out into the living room. And he went quietly, because for all his inner promises and determination, he just couldn't stand to see Hinata like that.

They found Naruto and Shikamaru waiting in the living room. As soon as Sasuke and Sakura stepped out of the dining room, the loud blonde jumped to his feet. "Teme, what the hell happened?" Naruto practically shouted.

Those words were barely out of his mouth before Sakura's irritated glare silenced him. "Go talk outside. We need to work." With that, she shut the door to the living room with a final click.

And so, the three of them ended up sitting on the wooden steps leading to the front door-none of them were stupid enough to try to argue with a medic when she working after all. "Well? What happened?" Naruto asked again. "How did the bastards sneak up on you? Hell, how did they sneak on _Hinata-chan_?"

Sasuke didn't answer right away. "We were...distracted..." he muttered finally, staring down at his hands, suddenly feeling extremely tired.

"What'ya mean 'distracted?'"

"We are arguing about her cousin." The Uchiha closed his eyes as the memory of their argument came to mind.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Naruto sighed and ran his fingers through his bright-yellow hair.

Everyone knew that the the pale-eyed woman still held out hope that Neji had somehow managed to defeat the horde of undead monsters that he'd taken on so that Hinata and Hanabi could escape. She'd often talked of going out to search for him, asserting that, since nobody had been found, no one could definitively say that Neji was dead. She and Hanabi had managed to survive for a week before finding the group, she'd argued. Who was to say that Neji wasn't in a similar situation?

They'd all tried to convince her otherwise. Kiba, Sasuke, even Hanabi...It'd been almost a year, they'd said. If Neji hadn't shown up at one of the safe places by now, he was more than likely dead or infected. But Hinata clung onto her small shred of hope the way a drowning man might grip a floating piece of wood.

"She had some kind dream or sensed something or whatever," Sasuke continued. "We were only couple miles away from the house when she told me that she was leaving to look for him. She was serious this time too. Even had a bag of clothes and weapons and everything." The Uchiha put his head in his hands as the memory of the incident came to the forefront of his mind.

 _"I know he's out there," she said. Her pale eyes were wide and earnest and pleading, begging him to understand and to let her go. "I have to go."_

 _But Sasuke didn't understand and he sure as hell wasn't going to just let her go. "What about your sister? What about everyone else?"_ What about me? _"You're just going to leave them all behind? To go off on a wild goose chase? Goddammit Hinata, Neji's_ dead _," he yelled._ _He even grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit, desperately hoping he might be able to shake some sense into her. But it was no use. She just looked up at him with those sad yet determined eyes. He'd was so frustrated and afraid and bitter and she'd been so desperate to make everything seem okay that neither of them had noticed that they were surrounded until it was almost too late._

"We argued. And then we were attacked and barely escaped..." Sasuke trailed off as he noticed Kiba and his gigantic white dog approaching him. Beside him, Naruto tensed up. They all knew how protective Kiba was over Hinata, and both could imagine the type of reaction he might have at finding out his long-time friend had been seriously injured.

"Oi, Uchiha, why the fuck is Shino-kun telling me that Hinata-chan got beat up really bad." Kiba snarled. Beside him, Akamaru had his hackles raised and was growling low and threatening. "What the hell? You were supposed to be watching out for her."

"Whoa there, easy, easy," Naruto said, trying to defuse the murderous Inuzuka before he decided to get physical. "Calm down. Sakura-chan and Ino-chan are seeing to Hinata-chan now, so she'll be fine in no time."

Kiba narrowed his eyes. "She'd better be. Because I'm not the only one you're going to have to look out for if she isn't."

Sasuke said nothing, just stared back impassively, feeling completely detached. Flak from Hinata's friends and family would be the absolute last thing on his mind if things went poorly.

* * *

Sakura and Ino eventually finished bandaging Hinata's wounds and, with Sasuke's help, moved her still unconscious body upstairs into her bedroom. Hanabi, who had previously been sharing the bed with her sister, elected to sleep on the floor next to her. The only sign of unease that slipped through her stoic mask was the slight trembling of her hands as she removed a pillow and blanket from the bed.

Sasuke barely left Hinata's side as she slept. He pulled up a plastic chair and sat next to her, occasionally falling asleep from exhaustion. Only Naruto's and Sakura's forceful extraction could get him to get up and do other things. Hanabi would join him in his vigil sometimes, usually reading a book or cleaning her weapons as she did so. Kiba and Shino were also frequent visitors, though their patrol and hunting responsibilities usually prevented them from coming as much as they would have liked.

Finally, the second day after the incident, Hinata awoke. Sasuke had been reading a book while Hanabi meticulously took apart her small pistol. Both went on high alert the moment they sensed Hinata shift in her bed and her breathing become irregular. Slowly, her eyes opened and she turned her head to look at who was sitting nearby.

"Sasuke?" Hinata mumbled, her voice thick with fatigue and sleep. "Hanabi?"

"Hinata," Sasuke said, not bothering to hide his enormous relief.

"Onee-chan," Hanabi exclaimed, a huge, elated grin on her face.

Hinata could only give them a confused smile in return, as she had no idea why they were all so joyous. "What's going on? D-Did something happen?" Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall the last thing that'd occurred. "I can't really remember. We were attacked and..." Her voice dropped to an unsteady whisper. "I...I wasn't bitten, was I?"

Sasuke motioned for Hanabi to go get Sakura or Ino. When the girl had darted out of the room, he turned back to her said, "We were on a mission. We...started arguing and got distracted and..." A lump was starting to form in the back of his throat and it took a moment for him to get his voice back. His hands balled into fists so tight that he could feel his fingernails digging into the flesh of his palm. "Anyway, I brought you back as fast as I could. You were cut up and bleeding pretty badly, but Sakura managed to bandage you up. You've been sleeping for the last two days."

He purposely avoided her question of whether or not she'd been bitten. He'd been grilled on that particular topic many times by many people and hadn't been able to give any definitive answers. Everything had been too chaotic and his memory was too jumbled; he'd been so preoccupied with ensuring that they'd both get back to the base alive to worry about anything else. In the end, the group had agreed to keep Hinata under strict watch. If she started displaying the typical symptoms...well no one had really wanted to think about _that._

The Uchiha didn't tell Hinata any of this though. Instead, he took her hand in his and looked her straight in the eye. "You're going to be fine."

Hinata stared back with hazy and bewildered eyes. She opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment, Hanabi reappeared with Sakura in tow. The pink-haired medic shooed him and Hanabi out the door, declaring that Hinata needed some calm and quiet. Sasuke was left looking blankly at the closed door, hoping with all his might that his words would turn out to be true.

* * *

Unfortunately, things didn't go as Sasuke would have liked them to. (Then again, when did they ever?). Sakura did not declare Hinata to be the picture of health and allow her to return to everyday life. Instead, four days after the incident, Hinata came down with what seemed to be a flu.

There was dead silence when Sakura announced this to the rest of the group. Everyone had seen at least one person succumb to the effects of the infection, and they all knew that flu-like symptoms were the first signs to look out for.

"She might just be sick," she warned, trying to keep everyone from jumping to conclusions. "She was bleeding in the rain for about forty minutes before Sasuke-kun managed to get her here. Let's wait and see."

But despite her attempts at reassurance, the atmosphere remained tense. Kiba could barely look at Sasuke without snarling, and he and Shino spent more time out of the house than in it. Hanabi passed the majority of her time outside as well, often training to better her aim. On the other hand, Sasuke practically glued himself to her bed (within reason, just in case Hinata really did have the flu). It got to the point where Naruto would have to drag Sasuke to hunting mission or a spar so that Sasuke didn't die of Vitamin D deficiency.

Everything felt in limbo for a week or so as everyone waited to see what would happen. Finally, after days of fever-high temperatures and endless coughing, Hinata's body temperature suddenly started dropping rapidly and her skin turned clammy and gray.

"Shit," Sasuke whispered, the morning he'd woken up to find her looking like a corpse. "Hinata. Hinata wake up," he said, trying to shake her awake.

Her eyelids fluttered open, but her eyes were unfocused and glassy. As if in a trance, she lifted her hands and placed them on Sasuke's hands. And then, almost without warning, she pulled his arm toward her mouth as she opened her mouth to chomp down. It was only because the Uchiha had been observing her closely that he noticed the practically imperceptible muscle and eye movements.

Fighting instinct took over as he used his other hand, the one that wasn't in Hinata's grasp, to push her head away from his arm. She started growling like a mad dog, a crazed look in her eye and saliva dripping from her mouth. Adjusting his grip, Sasuke took a fistful of Hinata's indigo hair and slammed her head against the wall, temporarily stunning her. Her hands loosened its grasp on the Uchiha's arm, and he tore it out of her hold and stumbled away to a safe distance.

At that moment, the door opened to reveal a concerned Ino, here to check up on Hinata and to change her bandages. "Wh-What's going on?" she asked. Her eyes took in the sight of a dazed Hinata slumped against the headboard of her bed and the Sasuke's scratched and bleeding arm.

"Nothing," Sasuke said, trying to inconspicuously hide his bloody arm behind his back. Unfortunately, his attempts to pretend everything was normal was ruined. Hinata, having recovered from her blow to the head, snarled at the two humans and clumsily tried to lunge at them. Her movements were jerky and uncoordinated, and it didn't take very much for Sasuke to grab her and pin her down on the floor.

After struggling and spluttering for a bit, her body slowly went limp and her breath slowed to quiet but erratic huffs. Apparently, her state of madness had passed. "Sasuke, I'm done for, aren't I?" Hinata asked in a small, barely audible voice.

Sasuke was silent. Since he was no longer holding her down, Hinata slowly pushed herself into sitting position. Her eyes, filled with tears, looking imploringly at Sasuke and then Ino, as if begging them to tell her otherwise. Both looked away, unable to think of anything to say to comfort her. Sasuke put his arms around her and hugged her to his chest. He could sense something inside Hinata break; she bawled, heart-broken, into his chest.

* * *

Hinata spent the rest of the last day of her life trying to pretend everything was normal.

The atmosphere in the house was somber as tears were shed and smiles were forced. Hinata spent the morning helping Hanabi bake a cake (that is, she watched Hanabi do all the work. Trying to fight the infection had weakened her body considerably). Later, Kiba and Shino took Hinata outside for one last perimeter patrol. Sasuke hovered nearby throughout the day, ready to act if Hinata started acting insane again. Kiba, who had dashed outside upon hearing of Hinata's condition, managed to get through the walk with only a few trembling words and catches in his voice. On the other hand, Shino talked more in that one afternoon than Sasuke had ever heard him talk in the time that he'd known him. And somehow, with the sun shining and the inane conversation, things felt almost normal.

Finally, the sun started to go down. Sasuke waited around awkwardly as Hinata gave everyone one goodbye. Many of them had started crying, no longer able to maintain their nothing-is-wrong masks. While everyone was busy with Hinata, Naruto quietly approached the Uchiha.

"Hey Sasuke-kun," Naruto said, completely serious for once. "I can do it if you want. Or maybe I can get Shikamaru-kun to..."

Sasuke shook his head. He had to do this.

All too soon, Hinata had finished saying goodbye. Silently, he led her out of the house and toward the back of the barn house. The silvery light of the full moon lit up the night, making it relatively easy to see where they were going. Once they'd arrived though, they stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say to each other. Finally, Hinata smiled and said, "Can I hug you?"

They really weren't supposed to. Physical contact would increase the risk of being bitten should Hinata suddenly go into monster mode. But Sasuke really couldn't bring himself to care. He enveloped her in his arms and held her tight. Hinata was cold. She was never cold. She was supposed to be warm and bright, the one who offered hot drinks on cold days and overdressed when it was chilly. It felt wrong.

After about half a minute, they broke apart. Sasuke felt his vision blur and something wet on his cheek and realized that he was crying. He'd kept it together the entire day, and now he was crying. Sighing, he reached for his handgun.

"Sasuke," Hinata said earnestly. She was crying too, her tears shining like quicksilver in the moonlight. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for being crazy and stupid and for not paying attention and for not being able to fight them off and...I'm sorry for doing this you."

"I'm sorry too," Sasuke said quietly. He turned off the gun's safety mechanism and aimed it straight at her forehead.

Hinata took a moment to sready herself, to wipe away the tears and snot from her face. Then she gave him the tiniest of smiles before closing her eyes. "Goodbye, Sasuke," she whispered.

 _I love you..._

The single gunshot rang in the air, cutting the peaceful silence of the night in two.

* * *

The funeral pyre had been constructed during the day so that, once Hinata was deceased, her body could be burned immediately. Fire was the only burial method now. Everyone had been exposed to enough zombie pop culture, and no one was to be willing to risk a supposedly inanimate body clawing its way out of the grave. Burning along with her was anything that might be contaminated (her sheets, bandages, etc.).

The funeral "ceremony" had taken place hours before. There had been no rituals, no sea of black clothing, none of the formality of the funerals he had gone to as a child. Just quiet mutterings and mournful silence. And now, most had gone back inside, content to let the fire burn itself out. In the morning, there would be only ash and dust and bits of bone left.

Sasuke watched as the orange and yellow flames flickered and burned, causing shadows on the ground to dance like black wraiths. Orange sparks shot upwards, chasing away the darkness for a few seconds before falling dimly to the ground. Everything felt so...resigned. What was he supposed to feel, other than heart-wrenching grief? He couldn't exactly try to avenge her death; everyone wanted those undead monsters wiped out, so adding his explosive anger to the pool would just be redundant.

It wasn't until the sun began to peak over the horizon and turn the sky shades of vibrant pink and purple that the fire began to die down. As the sun rose, the blazes diminished, getting smaller and smaller until they were little more than embers, clinging feebly to life.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," Naruto said, subdued. The raven-haired man didn't even bother to acknowledge him. "Let's go inside."

He didn't argue, just got up and followed Naruto back into the house. Already, he could see Chouji getting breakfast ready through the kitchen window. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Shikamaru came outside to the little garden in the back to make sure that the rodents hadn't gotten into the medicinal herbs he was growing for Sakura. Or maybe Hanabi would check on Hinata's little plot of vegetables for her. In the end, time hadn't stopped. Everyone did what they needed to do and life marched on.


	4. How Not to Make a First Impression

First day of Sasuhina Month! Whoooo!

Prompt: First Encounter

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, Hinata and Sasuke did not meet at a Hyuga-Uchiha gathering or at a formal party. Their first meeting place had been much more humble: the playground.

It'd been the type of day that made shut-ins consider going outside for a walk instead of wasting their day on the computer—in other words, bright and sunny, with cloudless blue skies stretching as far as the eye could see. It was so beautiful that even Hiashi couldn't bear to keep his princess cooped up inside. Grudgingly he allowed her to leave the ivory tower and explore the outside world.

"Let's go to the park, okay Hinata-sama?" Ko asked as he took the little five year-old's hand and lead her out of the Hyuga Complex. Hinata nodded silently, clutching Ko's hand tightly as she hid from the stony gazes of the guards at the Hyuga gates.

This was the first time she had ever gone on a "casual" trip out of the Hyuga Complex. She'd only ever left on official clan business, such as visiting another clan.

What would the park be like? she wondered. Maybe it was filled with pretty, delicate flowers like the Main House gardens. But then would she even be allowed there? The Branch servants always yelled at her if she took so much as a step into that flower paradise, surely the village gardeners would be just as protective.

As it turned out, the park was nothing like she imagined. The only flowers were the hardy, ubiquitous dandelions and the occasional wildflower. Other than that, the ground was covered with bright green grass. In the middle of the park was a small pond, with a stone path winding around it. Ducks and geese swam lazily in the middle of pond, on the lookout for anyone bearing bread.

But what grabbed Hinata's attention was the playground off to the side of the park. She stared wide-eyed at the colorful plastic equipment and the children climbing and screaming and laughing. She'd seen playground equipment before in the Branch grounds, but it was been nowhere near as large, and there certainly hadn't been as many kids playing there.

"Why don't you go play with them," Ko suggested, smiling down at her.

Hinata bit her lip and hid her face in her caretaker's clothing. What if they didn't want to play with her? The other Hyuga children never seemed to.

Ko sensed his young charge's trepidation. Hinata had never been the type to just approach others and ask if she could join in. She was probably extra wary too, since none of the Branch children were comfortable enough around the young heiress to let her join their games. Scanning the playground, his pale eyes immediately spotted the spiky dark hair of the youngest Uchiha child, Uchiha Sasuke. He was kneeling in the sandbox, a comically serious look on his face as he gathered the sand into a bucket.

"Look Hinata-sama, Uchiha-sama is playing at the sandbox. You can go play with him."

Hinata peeked her head out from behind Ko's robes. She didn't recognize the dark-haired boy, but she remembered the Uchihas visiting the Main House from time to time. The stern man looked as scary as her father, but the lady had been nice. She'd even smiled and stopped to talk to her. Maybe this Uchiha boy would be nice like that lady.

Once she'd been but pried away from Ko's side, Hinata trotted off toward the sandbox with great reluctance. Ko let out a breath of relief and went to go sit at the nearest bench, half of which was currently occupied by the elder Uchiha sibling.

"Hello Uchiha-sama," he said, nodding respectfully

Itachi glanced him and returned the nod before going back to his meditative stupor. He'd just returned from an exhausting mission a few days ago and still had not recovered. At least taking Sasuke to the park required much less mental effort than trying to train him and posed less risk of accidental murder.

As for Sasuke, he was diligently building a sandcastle. This was mission that his big brother Itachi had tasked him with, and he was going to do the best job ever.

"Um, c-can I j-join?"

Sasuke raised his head. The pale-eyed girl standing in front of him was staring at the ground, clutching at the sleeves of her white summer yukata, and blushing so furiously her head looked like a ripe tomato. Her eyes were pale and pupil-less, just like that of the scary man who sometimes came to his house and talk to Father.

The Uchiha boy pondered her request. He didn't really want to let her join. But the last time he said that to a girl, Mother had gotten mad and scolded him. Never mind how annoying those girls and their loud voices and persistent comments were ("What are you doing Sasuke-kun?" "Wow, you're so amazing Sasuke-kun!"), he was supposed to be polite and gentlemanly. He could only imagine her anger if he told this nervous girl to leave him alone. Especially if she told her the Scary Man and then he told Mother and Father.

"Okay…" Sasuke said reluctantly, moving aside to make room for the newcomer. She didn't seem too annoying, and his mission could use a second member. Besides, this way, he'd finish faster and then Itachi would be super impressed and train him instead of sitting on a park bench staring into space.

Hinata could hardly believe that someone actually wanted to play with her and hurriedly sat down on the sand next to the Uchiha boy before he could change her mind.

"We're making a sandcastle, see?" Sasuke patted the large mound of sand in front of him. It looked nothing like the castles in the fairy tale books Hinata's mother read to her, but she refrained from pointing that out. "Here," he handed her a bright blue plastic sand bucket, "fill it up. I'll do the rest."

Hinata nodded vigorously and quietly got to work, diligently filling up the sand bucket and then dumping it wherever Sasuke ordered her to. They didn't talk much beyond orders and eager-to-please expressions of agreement, but there was a comfortable atmosphere. It was nice.

And then it happened. The fateful incident that ruined this otherwise peaceful first encounter.

Sasuke noticed a spider on Hinata's shoulder.

Now, Sasuke wasn't scared of spiders. But he remembered the fear and worry in Mother's eyes as she flung a kunai at a spider crawling near him. So Sasuke naturally assumed, with his extremely limited experience with girls, that if his mother was afraid of spiders, all girls had to be afraid of spiders. (Unbeknownst to him, Mikoto had no such fear. That spider had been one of the few poisonous species found in Konoha, and it'd been too close to her son to be allowed to live.)

He had to get rid of the spider before Hinata saw it and got scared. Sasuke looked around and saw a large rock lying outside of the sandbox. It wasn't a kunai, but it'd have to do. The Uchiha boy surreptitiously reached for the rock and took aim. Shouting a battle cry, he threw the rock with all his might.

The large brown and grey stone flew through the air. Time seemed to slow as it headed for its target. But instead of annihilating the spider, it hit Hinata smack in the middle of her forehead. With a muted thud, the rock bounced off her head and landed onto the sand next to her.

"Ahhh," Hinata yelled, clutching her forehead. Tears were forming at the corners of her eyes as she wailed in surprise and pain.

Faced with utter failure and a crying girl, Sasuke did the first thing that came to mind: he ran away. Well he tried to anyway. A terrified five-year old was no match for a high-level shinobi. Sasuke had barely taken ten steps before Itachi caught him and dragged him back to the crime scene.

"I'msorryIdidn'tmeanittherewasaspideranditriedtokillitpleasedon'ttellMother," Sasuke blubbered, mashing and tripping over his words.

"I'm sorry for what my brother did," Itachi said, bowing. He wasn't even sure what had happened, but he figured it was better to apologize than accidentally cause a clan feud.

Ko, who'd shot out of his seat like a rocket, held the crying girl close as he glared at the Uchiha brothers. What had he been thinking? How could he have let Hinata play with a boy uncouth enough to throw a rock at her head? He should have just had her feed the ducks instead. "Good day," he said hotly, deliberately ignoring the apology. The caretaker bowed stiffly before rushing off towards the Hyuga Complex to have Hinata be tended to.

Itachi straightened and looked around. The playground was dead silent. Everyone was staring at the remaining duo with a mixture of curiosity, disapproval or amusement. Being at the center of attention defeated the point of coming to the public playground, where the great number of civilians made it one of the few places Itachi could go and expect to be ignored. He sighed, took his little brother's hand and guided the him home.

In the end, Mikoto didn't scold Sasuke for making a girl cry like Sasuke had expected. Instead, she laughed so hard she had to take a minute to catch her breath. Meanwhile Hinata's "injury" (nothing more than a shallow scape) had been quickly bandaged. Still, Ko never took her back to the playground again. Or allowed her within ten feet of another Uchiha.

Hinata and Sasuke didn't see each other again until they both entered the Academy. There Sasuke actively avoided her and Hinata covered her forehead whenever he was up for weapon aiming practice.


	5. Not Chocolate

Day 2

Prompt: Tomatoes and Cinnamon Buns

* * *

"So um… Please accept my gift, Sasuke-kun," some pink-haired fangirl blurted, holding out a beautiful navy blue box wrapped with a bright pink ribbon. It was lunchtime, and they were standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the roof while everyone else ate in their classrooms.

"Thanks," the Uchiha grunted, reluctantly accepting the gift and tucking it under his arm.

The fangirl's face turned bright pink at his words. "I-I hope you enjoy the chocolates. I worked really hard—"

Sasuke turned and left for his classroom before the girl could finish her sentence.

Every Valentine's Day, Sasuke was swamped with chocolates and candies and other handmade gifts. Lots of boys would have given anything to be in his place, but Sasuke woud have given anything to not have to deal with this. He didn't know or care about the girls who made them for him. He didn't even like sweets.

At first, he would reject the presents, or throw them in the trash. But then his mother discovered what he was doing and scolded him yet again about manners and treating girls nicely. And so, rather than suffer through another lecture, he accepted and brought home every Valentine. At least he didn't have to eat them. Itachi's and Shisui's sweet tooth took care of that.

Thankfully, the school day ended quickly. Sasuke was standing outside, getting ready to lug home his trash bag filled with boxes of gifts, candy, and chocolate when he heard a soft voice say, "W-Wait Uchiha-san." He looked up to see Hinata Hyuga nervously standing in front of him, a light blue box in her hands.

"What?" Sasuke asked with dread. His trash bag was full enough as it was. He was going to look like a midget Santa Claus who'd been forced to make deliveries on foot because his reindeer had run away.

To his horror, Hinata blushed and held out a box. "Ha-Happy Valentine's Day Sasuke-san."

"Thanks." He didn't bother hiding the disappointment from his voice. Hinata wasn't a fangirl, so he'd hoped that maybe she wouldn't give him anything. He supposed that she was too polite not to give everyone, including him, obligatory chocolate.

As he took the box, he noticed that it wasn't a gift box, but rather a bento box. Curious, he opened the clasp. His eyes widened with surprise when he saw the round tomatoes slices, diced cucumber and little cherry tomatoes lying on pure white rice.

"I kn-know you don't like chocolate," Hinata stammered, still blushing. "So…So I hope you'll like these instead." She ran off before Sasuke could say anything.

Confused and strangely pleased, he closed the bento box. Then, rather than toss it into the trash bag with the other valentines, he tucked it into his backpack. Maybe this Valentine's Day wasn't that bad after all.

...

"Here's your chocolate, Hinata-san," Naruto said, plopping a small plastic baggie filled with store bought chocolates onto her desk and giving her one of her blinding grins. "Thanks again for your Valentine gift. I never thought instant ramen and chocolate would be so great together."

"Y-You-You're welcome," Hinata managed to stutter. Her face felt like it was on fire and her heart was going a million miles an hour. Naruto's attention was too much for her.

Thankfully/Unfortunately, Sakura happened to walk by and Naruto immediately turned to loudly and enthusiastically present his White Day's gift to her: red spider lilies and a pink box of chocolates. Of course, Sakura began yelling at Naruto for giving her flowers associated with death. The whole scene ended with Sakura punching Naruto in the face for letting slip that he'd picked them up from a grave site. She left in an indignant huff.

Hinata let out a small sigh and carefully placed the chocolates that Naruto had given her into her bag. She'd cherish them, regardless of the amount of thought (or lack of thought) he put into them.

Unlike say Ino, who'd been besieged with flowers and chocolates all day, Hinata's White Day had been relatively quiet. She'd received some cookies shaped like dog biscuits from Kiba, candy from Shino, and a few other gifts from male classmates who'd wanted to reciprocate. And to be honest, she preferred it this way. The last thing she wanted was to bring home her weight in chocolate. Especially since three year-old Hanabi already had the nasty habit of devouring any sweets within reach and then getting sick from all the sugar.

Class eventually finished and Iruka-sensei dismissed them. As Hinata gathered her things and put on her jacket, Sasuke approached her. "Ah, hello Uchiha-san," she said. He was probably here to give her a White Day gift. He always gave one to every girl in class after all.

"Hyuga," he said, placing her light blue bento box onto her desk.

"Oh, um, thank you for returning it," she said, baffled as to why he waited so long to give it back. Valentine's Day had been a month ago and she'd assumed that he was going to keep it forever. She lifted it up, and noticed that it seemed heavier than an empty bento box should be. Puzzled, she opened it and gazed with shock at the large, glazed cinnamon roll within.

"I, uh, thought you'd like this more than chocolate," Sasuke muttered, the tips of his ears turning a light pink. He refused to look Hinata in the eye.

Hinata could only stare at him, astonished that Sasuke Uchiha, the boy famous for giving every girl the exact same gift, had given her a cinnamon roll. Then she realized how rude she was being. "Th-Thank y-you," she said, bowing so clumsily that she almost lost her grip on the bento box.

"…You're welcome," Sasuke said.

The two of them stood there awkwardly, neither of them knowing what to say. Finally they bid each other goodbye and went their separate paths home. Hinata clutched the bento box to her chest, careful not to let the contents inside move around too much. There was a lightness in her step, and she couldn't stop smiling for some reason. The plastic bag filled with chocolates that Naruto had given her sat in her backpack, forgotten.

* * *

A/N: Since Sasuke is eight here, and his family is supposed to be dead when he's six but there in this story they're very much alive, this is either a Modern AU or a Non-Massacre AU.

Also, chocolate covered instant ramen is a thing. Google it.


	6. The Joys of Being a Younger Sibling

Day 3

Prompt: A beloved sibling

Rated T for swearing and alcohol.

Non-massacre AU. Off screen ItaNeji. I'm honestly not too sure about this one, especially since I've never been to a bar or drank alcohol, so I hope this turned out okay.

* * *

The Drunken Owl wasn't the only bar in Konoha of course, but it was far and away the most popular among shinobi. Maybe it was because the tables were arranged against the wall, allowing nervous ninja to stop worrying about being attacked from behind. Maybe it was because shinobi found it comforting to know that there were always a couple of Leaf nin searching the crowds for threats at any given moment. Or maybe it was because the bartenders knew enough to never ask questions.

Whatever the reason, The Drunken Owl rarely had an empty night, and that Thursday was no exception. Luckily, Hinata went there so often these days that the bartender had taken to saving her a spot in the corner.

"Hello Ishiyama-san. Sake please,"Hinata told the grizzled old bartender as she all but fell onto the wooden bar stool. With a soft groan, she laid her head on her forearm.

"Tired?" Sasuke asked as he situated himself on the stool to her right, greeted the bartender, and ordered a shot vodka.

Hinata slowly lifted her head and stared with wide, glazed eyes at the man sitting next to her. "I spent the past eight hours choosing the color schemes and flowers for the wedding," Hinata whispered, horrified.

Sasuke winced sympathetically. "At least your cousin suffered with you. Itachi had some clan head thing and I got dragged along with Mother to oversee the desserts and the cakes. I didn't have to sample any, though, thank God."

" _Eight hours_ ," Hinata continued as if she hadn't heard Sasuke. "I don't think I can look at another bouquet or color swatch again." The bartender placed both their drinks down in front of them. Hinata immediately picked up her glass and downed the contents in two gulps. Coughing from the burn of the alcohol against the back of her throat, Hinata set her glass back down and ordered another glass of sake.

"It must have been really bad then." The only other time Hinata had downed an entire glass in one go was after her first S-class mission. Sasuke picked up his own drink and took a careful swig, relishing the way fiery pain the vodka caused as it traveled to his stomach.

"I can't believe that the elders are turning this into the biggest event of the year. All Neji-niisan wanted was a quiet ceremony with a couple friends, and I'm sure Itachi-san wants the same." Ishiyama came over and refilled the glass with sake. This time, Hinata took her glass but didn't drink any of it. Instead, she just stared at its contents in frustration. "But instead, I'm being consulted on every detail because I'm his oldest female family member and it's driving me crazy and…and…UGH." Hinata took a swig of her drink and covered her face with her other hand. Her face was cherry red from ranting and from the alcohol.

"I can't believe Itachi's actually getting _married_ ," Sasuke mused after a while. He glanced at his drinking companion and smirked. "I hope Neji's a good housewife because Itachi's pretty crap with that stuff."

Hinata choked on her sake. "Neji-nii a housewife?" she spluttered in between coughs and laughter. "He can't even do laundry. On missions, he pays Tenten to wash his clothes. Or just buys new ones when his old clothes get too smelly to wear."

"Ha, at least Itachi's not _that_ bad. Can't say the same about his cooking though. I'm pretty sure he gave me got food poisoning when I was a kid."

"Yeah. Neji-nii got really bad diarrhea the night after that surprise dinner." The pale-eyed heiress made a face at the memory and finished her second glass. "They'll probably live on takeout and any food Neji-nii can steal from the clan kitchens until one of them learns how to cook."Hinata grinned secretively. "Personally, I think the biggest problem will be Neji-niisan's hair. It gets everywhere: blocks the drains, covers the floors. Drives the Branch servants crazy."

"Father's tried to get Itachi to shave his head so many times because of stuff like that," Sasuke snickered. "Between the two of them, they could probably lose enough hair to start up a wig shop."

Hinata burst into giggles, using one hand to cover her mouth as she did. Though there were still dark circles under her eyes and her skin was still a little too pale, her eyes sparkled with laughter and she seemed to glow with contentment. Tired and tipsy, the Hyuga Heiress moved her stool over so that she could comfortably lean her head on Sasuke's shoulder.

"We're terrible people," she murmured, still smiling. "Good siblings don't talk about what an annoying housemate their brothers are. Especially if their brothers are moving in together in a month."

"Eh, I think we deserve a pass," Sasuke said, draining his glass. "It's our reward for helping them with the wedding plans _and_ for putting up with them all our lives."

"Hmm."

There was a short silence before Hinata spoke up in a soft voice. "Hey Sasuke?"

"Yeah."

"When we get married, we're getting eloped."

"How scandalous. And here I thought you were the angel of the family."

Hinata shifted her head to scowl up at her boyfriend. "I'm not going through another set of wedding preparations."

"Touché." Sasuke drained his glass, closed his eyes, and leaned his head on top of Hinata's. He breathed in the soothing scent of her lavender shampoo. The day had been long and boring and the alcohol he'd consumed made him feel warm and drowsy. He could feel his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Within minutes, both he and Hinata were fast asleep.

…

Dragging her intoxicated sister back home was the last thing Hanabi wanted to do at one o'clock in the morning. But when she intercepted one of the bar's messengers, she knew that the elders would have a field day if they found out about this. And as annoyed as she was with her sister, Hinata should be able to drink as much as she wanted without being lectured about upholding clan image. So there Hanabi was, walking into The Drunken Owl in the middle of the night.

Walking up to the gray-haired bartender, she demanded, "Where's Hinata?"

"Hello to you too, Hanabi-san," Ishiyama said as he dried a shot glass. "Your sister's over there." He gestured toward the far corner of the bar. Hinata and Sasuke had fallen asleep while leaning against each other. Miraculously, they hadn't been knocked forward into the counter or been pushed backwards onto the floor.

"Could they be more obvious," Hanabi muttered to herself as she walked over to the couple. Thankfully, it was mostly civilians today, so hopefully gossip about the Hyuga Heiress and the youngest Uchiha sibling wouldn't be all over the village by tomorrow morning.

Gingerly, she used one hand to prop Hinata up while she used the other push Sasuke into the bar. His head fell onto the wooden countertop with a thud, but surprisingly the contact didn't wake him. Instead, the dark-haired man slurred, "Fuck off Itachi, I'm trying to sleep."

"I'm not your damn brother and my sister is way too good for you," Hanabi grouched as she heaved Hinata's unconscious body onto her back. After the last few sleepless nights, her sister was pretty much dead to the world.

"What are you going to do with him?" Ishiyama asked, gesturing at Sasuke.

Hanabi shrugged as well as she could with her sister's deadweight on her back. "Call Itachi. Throw him into the dumpster. I don't care."

The old bartender nodded thoughtfully. "Do you want me to put Hinata-san's bill on his tab too?"

A huge evil grin stretched across Hanabi's face. "You know me too well," she said. With a final wave good-bye, she exited the bar and began the arduous trip back to the Hyuga Complex.


	7. Technical Problems

Day 4

Prompt: Emergency

* * *

The _tap tap_ of the laptop keyboard was the only sound in the room as Hinata made the final corrections to the term paper for her Biochemistry class. After reading through it one final time, she pressed save and heaving a sigh of relief. Hours, _days_ , of writing and researching and revising and editing, and now she was _done_. Hinata leaned back in her chair and stretched. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

The digital clock on her nightstand showed that it was two in the morning. The library wasn't open at this hour, so she'd have to wake up earlier than usual tomorrow morning in order to go print out her paper. Around seven maybe. Still, that meant getting a solid five and a half hours of sleep tonight.

Yawning, Hinata turned toward her computer so that she could email the file to herself. But when she tried to open her web browser, nothing happened. The cursor wouldn't move, no matter how much she swung the mouse back and forth.

 _Oh no._ In desperation, she tried summoning the task manager. Loud ominous beeps began emanating from the machine as the cursor turned into the spinning blue circle of death. _Please God no._

But God either wasn't on her side that day or was busy with something else. The computer let out one last angry beep before the screen turned black.

Hinata stared at the dark screen for a full minute, too afraid to turn the machine back on. Finally, she gathered all her courage and pressed the power button. Nothing happened. No matter how many times she pressed that button or how long she held it down, the screen didn't even flicker.

Did this mean that her computer was broken? All the blood in her veins turned to ice water at the thought. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be too big of a problem: she'd just get a new one. But the sole copy of her term paper was on that hard drive. She'd just barely passed the first semester of her Human Anatomy class. If she didn't turn in this paper, she'd fail for sure.

 _Failure._ The word sent shivers down Hinata's spine. If she failed this class, then any thought of impressing her father and making him proud would fly out the window. He would look at her with unsurprised eyes and think ' _I knew it'_ and he'd be right. And what if he got angry? He'd spent so much money on her education, and she couldn't even pass a lousy class…

 _What if he disowns me? I'll be out on the street picking food out of trash cans,_ Hinata thought, shaking.

Logically, she knew that her father would never disown her for something so trivial. But logic died a quiet death whenever fear entered the picture. She _needed_ to hand in that term paper.

Lunging for her phone, Hinata scrolled down her list of contacts until she reached the very bottom. Her thumb was about to hit the call button before pausing at the last second. It was two in the morning and he was probably asleep. Should she really disturb him at this hour? In the end, consideration also died a quiet death.

Off in the boy's dorm building, Sasuke was, like most students, not sleeping. Instead, he was at his desk, designing a program for an end-of-year final project. Suddenly, his cellphone lit up and began to play a catchy pop song. It was the ringtone that went off whenever one of his "friends" (could you still call them friends if you wanted to strangle them half the time?) called. He cast an annoyed glance at the caller ID. _I swear if Naruto got stuck in a tree again I'll_ —

All mental processes ground to a halt when he saw the name being displayed: _Hinata Hyuga_. He could feel his face heating up as he carefully pressed the "receive" button.

"Hello?" he said, trying to sound cool and nonchalant and not like his heart was racing a million miles per hour.

"Sasuke? Oh thank God you picked up." Hinata's usual soft and soothing voice sounded hysterical. "My computer won't turn on and I don't know what happened but I think it's broken and my term paper's on there and I really, really need it or else I'll fail my class and I don't want to pick stuff out of dumpsters and I'm sorry for bothering you but please, please, _please_ help me."

It was amazing how she managed to say all that in one breath. "Um," Sasuke said, glancing at his computer and the program he was working on. He was ahead of schedule, so he could afford to take a couple hours to help. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Thank you so much," Hinata said, sounding close to tears.

Ten minutes later, Sasuke arrived at Hinata's dorm door, computer bag in hand. A frazzled Hinata let him in. Her hair was a tangled mess and she wouldn't stop wringing her hands. Her bottom lip was pink from chewing on it.

"Here it is," she said, gesturing at the laptop on her desk. She looked at it warily, as though it contained a deadly monster that could escape at any moment.

Sasuke sat down at her desk and tried to turn it on. He had about as much luck as Hinata. Bending down, he check the power cord, the electrical plug. Everything seemed to be working fine, so the power supply wasn't the problem. This was going to be more of a hassle than he thought. Sighing, he got out his own laptop and began searching the Internet for solutions.

"Can you fix it?" Hinata asked, worriedly hovering over his shoulder.

"I'm not sure," Sasuke admitted. He glanced at Hinata. "You said your term paper's on here. Did you make a backup copy or store it in the Cloud or anything?"

"N-No" Hinata said, embarrassed. She'd meant to, but it somehow always slipped her mind. _Never again_ , she promised herself

Sasuke clicked on the top result of the Google search. "I'll try my best," he said. As much as he wanted to be the knight in shining armor, he wasn't about to make promises he couldn't keep.

"Okay," Hinata pulled up a chair and sat down. She was determined to stay awake until the whole thing was finished.

Hinata's alarm went off at 7:30, just like it always did on Friday mornings. The pale-eyed girl groaned and shifted in her seat. Her neck was stiff from sleeping in an upright position for so long and her limbs felt sore. Yawning, Hinata slowly open her eyes…and froze at the sight of Sasuke sleeping at her desk. What was he doing here?

Then it all came flooding back to her. The broken computer, panicking about being homeless, calling Sasuke at two in the morning.

She got up and walked over to him. He was sleeping on top of his closed laptop. Tools, screws, and her computer hardware were strewn haphazardly all over the desk. "Sasuke? Sasuke please wake up," she said, shaking him slightly

The Uchiha woke up with a start. "Wha? Hinata?" He glanced wildly around the room, disorientated, before spotting the computers on the desk and remembering why he had come in the first place.

"Were you…" Hinata prepared herself for the worst.

Despite the dark circles on his eyes, Sasuke smiled and picked up a blue flash drive that had been lying right next to his laptop. "Everything's in here."

Wide-eyed and disbelieving, Hinata took the memory stick and stared at it like it was the world's biggest diamond. It might as well have been.

"I didn't manage to save your computer though—" Sasuke apologized. But before he could finish, Hinata sprang forward and hugged him with all her (surprisingly powerful) might.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you," she chanted, tears of relief forming at the corner of her eyes.

"Can't…breathe," Sasuke rasped. The force of the sudden movement had knocked the wind from his lungs and the strength of her squeeze didn't allow much room for breathing. His cheeks were bright pink; he blamed asphyxiation.

A couple seconds later, Hinata pulled away and grabbed her backpack. If she hurried, she could get to the library, print out her paper, and still hand it on time. Shouting one last "thank you Sasuke" over her shoulder, she dashed out of her room, flash drive in hand.

Sasuke stared blankly at the door for a moment, his cheeks still bright pink (asphyxiation, he'd insist), trying to memorize every moment of that brief contact. Finally, he shook himself out of his stupor and began packing his things. He needed to get back to his own bed and take a nap.


	8. Cold and Bored

Rated T (just in case)

Day 5

Prompt: Blankets

* * *

Some blamed global warming, others said it was the wrath of God. The cause didn't really matter though. The fact was that Konoha, which usually only received a couple of inches of snow at most, had been hit by a massive mid-autumn snowstorm. Three feet of snow had been dumped onto the city, rendering the roads unusable. To make matters worse, the powerful winds and icy temperatures had knocked out the power in most residential areas.

Of course, everything—school, work, events—had been cancelled. Konoha essentially ground to a halt as the city leaders desperately tried to get the roads clear and the power back on. Progress was slow.

At first it wasn't so bad. Hinata and Sasuke helped shovel the snow covering the path to the front of their apartment building. Then they threw snowballs at each other and built snowmen and relived the winter wonderlands of their childhood memories. By the time they went back inside, their faces were red from laughter and the cold.

At first, they had entertainment. Both had assumed that the power would come back on at any time, and had stupidly wasted their battery on social media sites and a movie. And when their laptops were dead and their phones at thirty percent, they played board games and read books.

But the sun set early in the mid-autumn, and with it went the light and modicum of warmth it offered.

Thus the two of them found themselves huddling underneath a blanket together on the couch of their shared apartment. It was dark and cold and felt more like the middle of the night than six in the evening. But because it _was_ six in the evening, neither of them felt like going to sleep. So they sat.

"I'm cold," Hinata whispered. Without electricity, they had no heat, no hot water, and no electric stove. She'd had to settle for leftover onigiri instead of the cooked meal and cup of steaming hot chocolate she desperately longed for.

"I'm bored," Sasuke grumbled. He'd never realized just how much he did at night, or how valuable light was. Now he was stuck staring at nothing.

"Hmmm." Hinata snuggled closer, if that was even possible, and buried her face in the Uchiha's neck. He radiated warmth like a human heater.

"Let's do something then," she murmured before nibbling at his earlobe. She covered his hand with hers, intertwining their fingers. Her pale eyes, which had turned silver under the moonlight streaming in through the windows, glinted mischievously.

Sasuke said nothing, surprised at her forwardness. He was the one who usually initiated the physical aspects of their relationship. The change felt nice.

Now Hinata was placing feather-light butterfly kisses from his jawline to his collarbone, leaving sparks of electricity in her wake. In turn, the almost feverish heat of his skin burned her cool lips and made her smile. He was cute when he blushed.

Pleasure coursed through him, making his pulse quicken and his breath hitch. Letting out a sigh of contentment, Sasuke freed his hand from Hinata's grasp and adjusted their positions so that she was sitting on his lap, straddling his waist. Their faces were so close he could feel her breath tickling his nose.

"Hinata," Sasuke whispered, his hand gliding through her thick indigo locks as he leaned in for the kiss. Hinata met him halfway, arms sliding up to rest around his neck.

It was just a bump at first, a brief meeting of mouths. Hinata's lips were soft and pliant, and as Sasuke deepened the kiss he could taste the peppermint flavor of her favorite chap stick. Gently, he bit down on her bottom lip and sucked at it. Saliva replaced chap stick. The moan he got in response made him dizzy with desire.

As for Hinata, all the attention was making her heart race and her breathing erratic. She wanted _more_. So when Sasuke let go of her lip, she crept her tongue between his teeth and pressed it against the inside of his mouth. Wide onyx eyes met lidded silver ones before closing in pleasure. Slowly, he slid his tongue against hers and she was all too eager to return the favor. The slick friction felt _good_ , and the corners of her mouth lifted upwards in enjoyment. Her hands traced random patterns on his shoulder blades while he ran his through her silky hair.

This was heaven.

Eventually, they had to part in order to take in some much needed oxygen. Hinata leaned her forehead against Sasuke's as their ragged pants mingled and warmed each other's faces.

"Still cold?" he asked, and she could practically _hear_ his smirk.

"Still bored?" she shot back.

Sasuke grinned and, instead of replying, pulled her in for another kiss.

* * *

AN: This was so hard to write. I tried.


	9. Of Ghosts and Avengers

Day 6

Prompt: Birthdays

* * *

Hinata's seventh birthday was like all the others. Every year for as long as she could remember, her father would throw a huge formal party in the enormous Main House reception room. Relatives, clan leaders, and business associates would come bearing elaborate toys and beautiful gifts and false interest. In the kitchens, the servants worked overtime to create a grand feast. Of course, the piece de resistance was the enormous multi-flavored birthday cake.

Everything would be wonderful and perfect, as befitting of the future leader of the prestigious Hyuga clan. Hinata was completely miserable.

Sasuke's seventh birthday was completely different from his previous ones. It used to be that every year for as long as he could remember, he and his father would spend the morning training or at the Uchiha police station. And for that birthday morning, he got to be with his father without constantly being reminded of Itachi's achievements. Then in the afternoon, when he badgered Itachi to spend time with him, Itachi would comply, instead of tapping him on the forehead and doling out empty promises. For dinner, his mother would make all his favorite foods. And he'd blow out the candles on the rice cake (the only type of cake he was willing to eat) while the rest of his family wished him a happy birthday.

Everything was wonderful and perfect and Sasuke was so happy.

...

"Hold still Hinata-sama," the Branch servant said, and Hinata immediately stopped playing with the sleeves of her new kimono. The garment was gorgeous. Delicately stitched cranes flew across light blue silk while pink cherry blossoms lined the edges. It was also itchy and uncomfortable and not something that Hinata wanted to wear all evening. Not that she had a choice.

A few minutes later, the servant finished dressing the little heiress, and hurriedly escorted the girl to the party. The reception room was filled with adults, all chatting and smiling and sipping alcohol from champagne glasses. The Branch servant expertly navigated around all these important people without so much as brushing against any of them. Little Hinata was brought safely to her father's side without a single wrinkle or hair out of place.

Hiashi, who'd been conversing with the Sandaime, noted his daughter's presence and said, "Hinata-chan, this is the Hokage-sama."

"Th-Thank you for coming." Hinata mumbled the words she had been instructed to say and then bowed the way she'd been instructed to bow. Just low enough to show respect, but not so low that she was demeaning herself. She had a clan image to uphold, after all.

The wrinkly old Hokage smiled. "Happy birthday, Hinata-chan," he said, his kind eyes twinkling. "My, my, seven years old. You're getting big."

"And more skilled, we hope," Hiashi said. "Enough to lead the clan when she's older."

The Hokage could have mentioned that children like Hinata should be off making childhood memories, not worrying about jobs that wouldn't come for years. But Sarutobi had dealt with enough clans and clan heirs to know when to keep his mouth shut. So instead he smiled and said, "I'm sure she'll be a wonderful leader. Now if you don't mind, I have to go find some of those egg custards everyone's been praising."

This was how Hinata spent most of the party. Greeting guests at her father's side. Repeating the same phrase over again. Bowing just enough to show respect and not enough to disrespect her clan. A pretty, silent robot that the guests could fawn over and then promptly forget. A paper thin covering to remind people that this was a seven year-old's birthday party, and not a business party in disguise.

Hinata forgot the adults pretty quickly too. Most were complete strangers, even the relatives. There weren't as many children, and the ones that had come, dragged along by their parents, were running around outside. She could see them through the window, playing and laughing, and some part of her longed to be out there with them.

But she had to be polite and greet the guests like an heiress should. And besides, her father would scold her if she got her beautiful new kimono dirty.

Soon it came time to eat dinner. Platters upon platters of the highest quality meat and seafood were brought out and served along with white rice, pickled or fried vegetables, and miso soup. Hinata sat in the seat of honor. To her left was her little sister Hanabi, who grinned as she smeared food all over her face. To Hinata's right sat Hiashi, who piled her plate high with the best cuts of meat and the finest fish and crab and shrimp.

The meat and fish went down easily enough, but Hinata had to force herself not to grimace at the taste of the shrimp and crab. Hyugas weren't supposed to be picky eaters after all, and especially not the heiress.

(What a lie. Hyugas were the pickiest of them all.)

After everyone had eaten until they were bursting, there were drinks for the adults and entertainment for the children. Hinata remained in the background, waiting for the party to be over. She no longer needed to greet guests, and she'd learned long ago that the children didn't want to play with the quiet girl with the weird eyes. It was surprisingly easy to be a ghost at your own party.

...

Sasuke tried not to think of his seventh birthday, tried to focus only on thoughts of Itachi and revenge and power. Thoughts that had consumed him every day since that night of the Uchiha massacre and would consume him every day until he finally achieved his goal. He tried to pretend it was just another day.

And just like any other day, he trudged downstairs to eat breakfast. His caretaker, who had been wiping down the counter, looked up and smiled at him when he entered the kitchen. "Happy birthday, Sasuke."

He didn't respond, just ate his egg and rice and miso soup. He did tense up and place the empty dishes a little more roughly in the sink than usual. It wasn't even ten o'clock yet and the illusion had already been broken.

After the massacre, the Hokage had decided that he couldn't leave the six year-old survivor to fend for himself. At the same time, he couldn't hand the last Uchiha and all the political power he represented to a clan or random family. So the Sandaime came up with a solution: hire third party caretakers to watch over and raise Sasuke. The boy in question wasn't thrilled, but no one listens to the opinions of six year-olds.

There would be many caretakers, at least until Sasuke got old enough to matter. The second, and current one, was a young, pretty brown-haired woman Mia (Sasuke forgot her name seconds after she introduced herself). She was kind and sweet and, like so many others, took one look at the miserable boy and wanted to help him. Sasuke ignored her completely.

But Mia didn't give up, and she wasn't deterred when the boy failed to respond to her "happy birthday." Not even when he left for the village training grounds without saying a word. Instead, she busied herself with the birthday cake, the one she was sure would make Sasuke smile for once. After all, what child didn't love birthdays and cake?

While Mia planned and baked, Sasuke trained (as much as an Academy student could train). He trained until lunch, returned to his house to eat, and then trained until dinner. And so far, no one made a fuss over his birthday. There been a few more well-wishers here and there, whom he tried to respond to with polite indifference. But no flock of fan girls descended upon him with sweets and presents, much to his relief. As he finished his dinner, Sasuke thought that maybe this day really would pass by without fuss and celebration.

Those hopes were dashed when Mia suddenly entered the kitchen holding a small cake topped with seven flickering candles. A huge smile lit up her face as she placed the cake in front of the horrified boy and turned off the lights.

"Happy birthday to you," she sang, clapping her hands. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Sasuke. Happy birthday to you."

There was awkward silence as Mia waited for Sasuke to blow out the candles. But he just sat there, staring at the cake and not saying a word.

Because Mia wasn't his mother or his father or family. Because Itachi was a mass murderer and an S-class missing nin. Because the cake was chocolate with vanilla icing and made Sasuke sick just looking at it.

So rather than say anything, Sasuke got up from the table and headed out of the kitchen. Well he tried to at least. Mia had moved to block the exit.

"Don't you want a slice?" she asked confused as to why Sasuke was acting this way.

"Shut up!" Sasuke exploded. All the emotions he'd been shoving down throughout the day boiling over. "I hate you! Just go away." Pushing her out of the way, he raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room. Mia watched him go, flinching at the bang of the slammed door.

...

At the end of the day, after the guests had gone home and the servants had begun cleaning up, Hinata brought all the gifts to her room and stacked them neatly in her closet. They'd all be opened later so that thank you cards could be sent to the givers. But she'd never play with them, and eventually the servants would clear them out the closet. What kind of Heiress played with toys when she could be studying or training?

When she was done with that, and had finished getting ready for bed, Hinata slipped underneath her covers, curled up into a ball, and cried.

She cried, not because of the party (she'd long gotten used to that) but because of the brief glimpse she caught of Neji as she brought all her gifts into her room. She saw the look in his eye and was reminded, just like she had been every year since turning two, why she dreaded this day so much.

She saw the hatred in her cousin's eyes increase ten-fold, become so intense that Hinata could almost feel his stare stabbing into her heart. Not that that she could fault him. He had every right to hate her. Her birthday marked the anniversary of her kidnapping, the even that had gotten his father, her uncle, killed.

At the end of the day, after Mia had knocked on his door and apologized and set a slice of cake in front of his door just in case, Sasuke sat on his bed, knees drawn, and tried not to cry. Strong shinobi didn't cry. Avengers didn't cry.

But he did.

Big, fat, salty tears rolled down his cheeks and dripped off his chin, wetting the blankets and the bedsheets beneath him. And despite his best efforts to stem the flow, they just keep falling, more and more, until his vision was blurry and he was sniffling just to keep the snot from running into his mouth.

For all his hatred and goals, he was just a seven year-old. A seven year-old who missed his mother and father and even his big brother. Who wanted nothing more than to just wake up and find out that this had all been a terrible nightmare. A mistake.

But that couldn't happen. And there would be many birthdays where even keeping that wish a secret wouldn't make it come true.

And so the two cried, the ghost and the avenger, while everyone around them wished them a very happy birthday.


End file.
